very good posting, madcow!
and something to add: maybe one can save something with an fsa ceramic bb(wich, as you said, is absolutely not proven), but this saving would probably just compensate the lost power because of those flexy cranks...

Remove all seals.
Done for a short distance special event in low-dust conditions only.
After removing the seals, it doesn't take long for dust to increase bearing drag higher than with seals.
Bearings (including cup and cone for loose bearings) must be replaced frequently.

'Polishing' or 'lapping' the bearings. You put a polishing compound on a set of new balls, cups and cones and spin then. Obviously, it is only for loose-bearing type of bearings. The instructions warned to be patient and turn the bearings slowly. It is easy to polish too much. After the bearing track is polished correctly, you remove and throw away the polishing bearings and clean the cups and cones super-clean. You then install new bearings with the normal grease and enjoy. It can be done to the bb, hubs and freewheel. It claims to also increase bearing life.

I did this once, it took a loooong time.

This is from an article in a cycling magazine about 25 yrs ago. I don't remember all the details. I can take 2 hrs looking it up if you like.

Tests by the Danish magazine Cykel-Motion (Mar 2005)and subsequently supported by calculation, show how usingceramic bearings can reduce rolling resistance by 50%, saving22m in just 55 seconds at 32kph. In short, astounding speedimprovement of 4%.

Does anybody have the actual report of this? Because I don't believe it. Bearing friction on bikes has always been considered to be *very* small.

Tests by the Danish magazine Cykel-Motion (Mar 2005)and subsequently supported by calculation, show how usingceramic bearings can reduce rolling resistance by 50%, saving22m in just 55 seconds at 32kph. In short, astounding speedimprovement of 4%.

To all:The drag of the bearings and other mechanical movement on our bikes don't matter that much. See the attached graphic.

The biggest problem is the front of the rider cutting thru the air. That is consuming the most watts and as you are going faster it gets worse. So mind your position and you can make a lot more profit then the tiny watts you win by using ceramic bearings. But is everything is perfect then you might try the ceramic bearings at the next Olympics (because there it would matter).

I just bought them to try. I am happy with them but comparing to what you will be able to improve ...... The costs are huge!

Aerodynamic spokes and tuning your position are a lot cheaper and give you far more result. But ceramic bearings are COOL!

anyone know or have tried installing the ceramic bearings from FSA megoexo on a clavicula crankset?

That would not be necessary, as you can get a good quality ceramic bearings for the THM's I've put them into half a dozen pairs now. No noticeable difference, except that the seals are even tighter than the originals, but again, tight seals have never bothered me. I don't think it creates a sufficient amount of drag.

anyone know or have tried installing the ceramic bearings from FSA megoexo on a clavicula crankset?

That would not be necessary, as you can get a good quality ceramic bearings for the THM's I've put them into half a dozen pairs now. No noticeable difference, except that the seals are even tighter than the originals, but again, tight seals have never bothered me. I don't think it creates a sufficient amount of drag.

It's not a significant amount of drag, and the amount that bearing drag increases is a linear function, unlike aero drag. The drag from seals is a constant and doesn't increase with speed.

anyone know or have tried installing the ceramic bearings from FSA megoexo on a clavicula crankset?

That would not be necessary, as you can get a good quality ceramic bearings for the THM's I've put them into half a dozen pairs now. No noticeable difference, except that the seals are even tighter than the originals, but again, tight seals have never bothered me. I don't think it creates a sufficient amount of drag.

It's not a significant amount of drag, and the amount that bearing drag increases is a linear function, unlike aero drag. The drag from seals is a constant and doesn't increase with speed.

While it doesn't increase with speed part of that drag is not friction but stiction. In essence the effect will decrease as speed increases.

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